ANSWERS AND QUESTIONS – CHAPTER 3
The 'Frank Scanlon' case is a typical example of how Hobson does business. You've got him dead to rights, when he pulls someone or something out of left field and muddies the water enough to get away. I know that he had something to do with Scanlon's murder, but then he exposes a murder for hire ring inside the department and suddenly everyone's so concerned about that, that Hobson being a fugitive isn't so important. Well, it's important to me. Yeah, I know he saved my life, and I know he saved my wife and kid; that just shows me how calculating he truly is. He gets me to drop my guard, to trust him, and then he works right under my nose. It's like that line from a movie 'the greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing people that he didn't exist'. Well I believe he does exist, and I believe he's Gary Hobson.
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Meow . . . . . . Thump
'the weather today will be' "Geez Hobson, where the hell's the off switch for this thing"?
Gary's eyes flew open; for a second he didn't remember the events of the night before, or why he was on his couch. Brigatti's voice and Cat's yowling brought him to his senses. He looked up to see Toni, bleary eyed and with serious bed hair, nearly beating his clock to death, trying to get it to shut off.
Pulling himself off the couch, he went over and shut the alarm off, then went to the door to get the paper. Cat looked up at him expectantly, but Gary just shook his head; "sorry buddy, she's allergic, go see if George can feed you". With that he closed the door in Cat's face and turned back to see how Brigatti was doing. Obviously mornings were not her time to shine. Once the alarm had been silenced, she had fallen back onto the bed and was currently rubbing her eyes and muttering bitterly about early risers.
He paused for a second, because even with bed hair, a lack of make-up and sleep deprivation; Brigatti was just stunningly beautiful. She was laying there in a Bears jersey and a pair of tube socks, and Gary thought to himself that he had never seen a woman look prettier. He shook his head and stalked off to his chair to check out the paper before she noticed his attention. At first glance it looked like a pretty light day. Another hit and run, a fire at a meat packing plant and a mugging near Grant Park. A typical day for Chicago's version of Superman. The first item didn't take place until ten that morning so he had plenty of time for breakfast and a shower.
He turned to his current bunkmate "Hey Brigatti, you want the shower first?"
She sat up and gave him a surprised look. "Why would I shower here, I do have a home you know."
"Yeah, but you're here now, I thought a shower might wake you up."
"Nah, thanks Hobson, I'll just head home and catch a shower there, thanks for the offer though." She noticed the paper in his hands "anything I need to know about?"
"A mugging, but usually I can stop those without involving anyone. These guys usually give it up if they see me around; after all, they're looking for an easy mark."
"I hear ya, just be careful and don't hesitate to call if you need a hand."
"I will, thanks Toni."
"No problem, um Hobson, you got a pair of sweats I could wear home?"
"Sure Brigatti, bottom drawer, help yourself."
The petite detective finally got out of bed and stretched her hands up towards the ceiling, elongating her body, and twisting to work out the kinks. Gary looked up at the noise she was making and his eyes almost bugged out of his head. Reluctantly he buried them back into the paper before Brigatti noticed him staring. She gave a huge sigh, pulled a pair of sweat pants out of the bottom drawer and went into the bathroom. A couple of minutes later, she emerged, collected her things and went to leave. She found Gary standing at the door to his loft.
"See ya tonight Brigatti?"
"I don't know yet Hobson, I've got a couple things pending, but I'll let you know."
He leaned forward and kissed her forehead, "I hope I see you later, and be safe."
He stepped back and opened the door for her. She smiled a thank you and headed down the stairs. Brigatti was headed out as Marissa was coming in. The sprightly Italian gave a cheery "good morning Marissa" and kept going past the startled woman.
Marissa stepped inside and took a deep breath. Obviously something had gone on, but she wasn't sure what. She liked the fiery detective, but she wasn't sure if she was really Gary's type. In her usual manner, she decided to tackle things head on. She went up to the loft, where she heard water running; Gary was taking a shower. Marissa smiled to herself, Gary was singing, badly it's true, but singing none the less. Things must have definitely gone well. She opened the door just as Gary was turning the water off and handed him a towel.
"Fun night last night?"
"Marissa! A little privacy please."
"Come on Gary, it's not like I'm gonna see anything."
"It's the principle of the thing."
"OK, OK; so you have a fun time with Brigatti?"
"Yeah, I actually did."
"Any special reason?"
"I told her about the paper."
"Why?"
"Well, I figured that I'd have to, if there was gonna be any kind of a relationship. I didn't want to be lying to her all of the time, so, I told her."
"A relationship? With Brigatti?"
"Maybe, and even if it doesn't work out, it can't hurt to have someone who knows the truth on the force."
"Do you think you can trust her?"
"Obviously, or I wouldn't have told her; she's saved my bacon more than once, and she's a good person."
"Well, well; so last night?"
"Last night we talked until three AM and then she slept here, in the bed; and I slept on the couch."
"Are you going to see her again?"
"We'll just have to wait and see about that. Hey, I've got an hour or two, any paperwork that needs doing?"
"No, we're pretty ship-shape at the moment; I'll see you downstairs."
Marissa left Gary to get dressed and went down to the office. She could read Gary so well, and she was astounded to realize that he was really happy; maybe for the first time since Chuck had left. 'Good for you Brigatti' she thought to herself.
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Back at her townhouse, Brigatti kept replaying the night's events. Hobson had been the perfect gentleman; charming, polite and funny. She hadn't had a night like that in some time. She thought of Kingman and some of the other cops she had dated; things never seemed to work out. Conflicting schedules, conflicting egos; not a good recipe for romance, and when the detective was being honest with herself, she wanted a bit of romance in her life. She now knew that Hobson's schedule was literally at the whim of fate, but he didn't seem to have an ego, at least professionally. Plus, he thought she was beautiful, and no one had told her that in some time. The whole concept of knowing what was going to happen a day ahead of time gave her the willies, but she had heard of stranger things. And truthfully, she could think of no one she would trust more with that kind of responsibility. She got dressed and went to work, but she had a hard time getting Hobson out of her mind.
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Gary stopped the hit and run easily enough with his trusty tennis ball. Some idiot was on his cell phone and not paying attention to the lights. Gary had tried to clear the cross walk, always his first option, but that had proven impossible; so, when he saw the car coming, he chucked the ball at the windshield. The driver had looked up, seen the people and jammed on the brakes, screeching to a halt about a foot from the nearest pedestrian. He had come charging out of the car, intent on blaming Gary for the near miss, but enough of the pedestrians had remained around; so when he started yelling at Gary, the almost victims seemed to decide that they should lynch the driver from the nearest street light. So Gary was delayed because now he had to prevent the driver from being injured. It all worked out in the end, but it made him late for the fire.
He knew he would be late, so he called 911 from a pay phone. He preferred using pay phones because he didn't want to be traced if he could help it. When he arrived at the scene, the paper said that only one worker would be injured, but that he was in critical condition. Gary had an extinguisher ready to go, and went in after the man. Using the extinguisher to clear a path, he found the man passed out from the fumes created by some burning plastic. Gary picked him up, but now he had become turned around. Not sure about his path out, he looked for any exit. He saw some light off to his left and maneuvered that way. He found some windows and, putting the man down for a moment, used the extinguisher to break them out. The fresh air energized him and he hoisted the unconscious worker over the sill, and followed after. Covered in soot and coughing he carried the man over to where the Fire Department and EMS had set up. After seeing that the guy was being taken care of, he wandered off towards McGinty's looking forward to a shower and some clean clothes. When the EMT had the victim stable he looked around for the guy that had dragged him over. He couldn't find anyone that matched the features he remembered, and none of the firemen had seen anyone. He was still puzzling over the mysterious Samaritan when he was stopped by a photographer for the Sun-Times. He was surprised when the wiry Latino described the guy perfectly. "So, you know who the guy is" he asked. The photographer just shook his head and walked away muttering to himself. The only word the EMT heard clearly was 'Hobson'.
Gary walked into the bar looking like an extra from a disaster movie. The staff and regulars were used to his strange comings and goings, and every one of them created differing explanations for his appearance at these times. Honestly it was as much a part of the atmosphere as the cat that hung around the bar. Marissa, of course, was told that Mr. Hobson had returned and that he was in a bit of a state. 'Thank you Brent" she told the day bartender; and went up to see what had happened.
She walked into the loft, just as Gary was stepping into the shower. She heard the spray, and for the second time that day, just walked right in.
"You OK in there?"
Gary, who had been expecting this visit, answered "I'm fine Marissa, could you have them send up a sandwich and some lemonade, Lunch was a bit interrupted".
Marissa went to relay the order, then waited in one of the chairs, stroking Cat and waiting for Gary to come out of the bathroom.
"You want to talk about it?"
"Not much to say. I got turned around in a burning building and had to find an alternate exit. He was pretty bad, but not as bad as he could have been, and I was just singed a bit; no real damage."
"Do I have to remind you to be careful?"
"No, and I was; at least as careful as possible."
Just then the lunch arrived; Gary thanked the young waitress and sat down to eat. "She's new, who is that"?
"Melanie, I think she's a runaway, but I couldn't prove it. Anyway, she's a good waitress and the staff likes her, so if she ever wants to talk, she'll have friends around to listen."
Gary leaned over and clasped his friend's hand. "I'm not the only one quietly doing good deeds here, am I?"
Marissa didn't blush, but her voice became a little flustered. "I hired a good waitress, that's it."
"Yeah, I'm sure you did, but the first thing you told me about her was that you think she's a runaway, that tells me that one reason you hired her was so you could help her when she decided she needed help. You're not forcing her, just supporting her until she feels comfortable enough to talk. Listen Marissa, I'm not jealous, or even upset; in fact I'm proud of you."
"ME? Why?"
"Because you do everything you can to help me with what I have to do, and you still find time to help others, because that's the kind of person that you are. Most people don't look up from their lives to even notice anyone else in this world, don't be ashamed for wanting to help; be ashamed that more people don't help."
Marissa got up, she had been afraid that Gary would be upset, as though she had been poaching on his turf; even Gary could surprise her from time to time. As she was moving to the door, Gary's voice stopped her.
"Marissa, if you want to hire Crumb to look into her particulars or go outside for a private detective, just let me know and I'll take care of the bill."
She just smiled and nodded, not really needing to say anything else. As she headed back downstairs she reminded herself again how truly good a man Gary Hobson was.
His last save was at three, so he called Brigatti to see if she would be able to make it over that evening. "Sorry Hobson, I've got four open cases and one possibility on my desk, I'll be here at least until seven."
"No problem Toni, some other night then" and hung up the phone.
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Meredith Carson had been walking around Grant Park for the last two hours. She knew what she needed to do, but getting up the nerve to do it was a bit of a problem at the moment. She was still walking, lost in thought, when she heard feet pounding the pavement near her and a voice yelling "hey lady, watch out". She looked up to see a small, fairly young man get tackled by a much larger man. A lady standing near them both was holding her purse and looking like she would pass out. Meredith, knowing instantly what was happening right in front of her, grabbed the frightened woman and told her to run and find the police. This, the woman did quite well. 'Maybe she's on a track team', Meredith thought to herself as she considered the sprinting woman. Turning back to the two men, she could see that they had separated, but that the smaller one had a knife. He was feinting at Gary (of course she recognized him), and trying to get away. Since he wasn't paying any attention to her, Meredith picked up a good sized branch that was lying nearby and proceeded to bash him over the head with it. His eyes rolled up and he folded onto the ground. She could see that Gary was about to pick up the knife.
"Stop, you don't want to touch that. Just kick it away from his hand." Gary did so, and then looked up to thank whoever had helped him. His animated face became an almost comic blank as he recognized the woman standing in front of him.
"Meredith" he said, as though he was hoping she was a mirage. "I thought you were gonna head somewhere safe."
She gave a little chuckle; "can you think of anywhere safer than with a guy that knows what's gonna happen before it happens? You kept me safe before, I trust you to do it again."
Apparently the running woman had actually managed to notify the police, because as they were talking a couple of Chicago's finest came on to the scene. Meredith explained what she had seen, and Gary said that he was coming to meet Meredith and saw the guy trying to mug the other lady. Both officers looked up when Gary told them his name, but neither of them pursued that line of questioning. They cuffed the would be mugger and hauled him off. Done with the paper for the day, Gary motioned to Meredith "let's get back to where we can sit down, and then you can tell me what's going on". Chatting like they saw each other all the time, the pair headed for McGinty's.